Brett Favre reflects on Saints' bounty scandal that rewarded players who injured him

NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre was erstwhile a people of a bounty hunting strategy by the New Orleans Saints and opened up 15 years aboriginal astir that acquisition successful a thread connected X Friday.

In 2009, the Saints offered their players currency incentives to injure definite players. Favre, backmost of the Minnesota Vikings astatine that time, was connected that list. 

The Vikings were considered the apical obstacle successful the NFC for the Saints to scope the Super Bowl that year. 

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Brett Favre is helped disconnected the tract aft being injured. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

The Saints bushed Favre and the Vikings successful the NFC title game that year, a 31-28 overtime thriller. Favre was ne'er injured, but helium took aggregate hard hits and ended up throwing a costly interception successful overtime. 

Favre said helium held nary "ill will" toward the Saints for the ungraded and wished helium played amended successful the game. 

"I played the crippled with the mindset to beryllium prepared for anything: large hits, injuries, and players trying to sound my caput off. I ne'er made excuses for the times I wasn’t palmy and played the crippled wrong the ruleset. In fact, losing conscionable made maine privation to enactment harder and fueled my thrust to triumph adjacent time," Favre wrote. 

"I don’t person immoderate ill-will towards those progressive successful Bounty Gate. After we mislaid to the Saints, I rooted for Drew Brees and Sean Payton to triumph the Super Bowl. Looking backmost 15 years later, my sentiment hasn’t changed. If I could person immoderate of those plays backmost and done my part, possibly we would person been the ones celebrating a title triumph successful 2010." 

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Minnesota Vikings backmost Brett Favre heads to the sideline aft throwing a walk intercepted by the Chicago Bears' Julius Peppers astatine TCF Bank Stadium successful Minneapolis Dec. 20, 2010. (Reuters/Eric Miller)

The Saints won the Super Bowl that twelvemonth against the Indianapolis Colts. 

But erstwhile the ungraded was uncovered, the Saints received immoderate of the harshest sanctions successful NFL history. Former caput manager Sean Payton was suspended a twelvemonth without pay. 

Defensive coordinator Greg Williams, identified arsenic the brains of the plan, was suspended indefinitely but was aboriginal reinstated. Former wide manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for the archetypal 8 games of the 2012 season, and adjunct caput manager Joe Vitt was suspended for the archetypal six games of that year. 

Former Saints players Scott Fujita, Anthony Hargrove, Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma were each suspended for their roles. 

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New Orleans Saints caput manager Sean Payton looks implicit plays connected the sideline. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)

The Saints besides had to wage a $500,000 good and forfeit their second-round picks successful the 2012 and 2013 drafts

The team's bounty hunting program progressive arsenic galore arsenic 27 players and astatine slightest 1 adjunct coach, the league recovered successful its investigation. Players adjacent contributed to a currency pool. 

The players were paid $1,500 for a "knockout," erstwhile a targeted subordinate couldn't instrumentality to the game, and $1,000 for a "cart-off," erstwhile a subordinate had to beryllium carried disconnected the field.

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